Say hello to Gmail voice and video chat — I'm a big user of Gmail chat. Being able to switch from email to chat as needed, all within the same app, is really great for productivity. But people can only type so fast, and even with our new emoticons, there are still some things that just can't be expressed in a chat message.

Google launches video chat for Gmail — Google is rolling out video and voice capabilities for the chat function that is embedded in the Gmail interface. It's a bare-bones voice and video-conferencing service, but it's simple to install and use and is a very good addition to Gmail.

Apple may turn to carbon fiber for lighter MacBook Air — Apple enthusiastically claimed ownership to the world's thinnest notebook earlier this year with the introduction of the MacBook Air, but is rumored to be unsatisfied with the system's weight, which it now hopes to drop below 3 pounds.

Changes at Six Apart — Earlier today, I published the following message on our internal company blog. For those members of our community who wanted to know about the changes at Six Apart today, I've reposted it here publicly for reference. — Today we are making some changes at Six Apart.

Tracking flu trends — Like many Googlers, we're fascinated by trends in online search queries. Whether you're interested in U.S. elections, today's hot trends, or each year's Zeitgeist, patterns in Google search queries can be very informative. Last year, a small team of software engineers began …

Google Uses Searches to Track Flu's Spread — SAN FRANCISCO — What if Google knew before anyone else that a fast-spreading flu outbreak was putting you at heightened risk of getting sick? And what if it could alert you, your doctor and your local public health officials before the muscle aches and chills kicked in?

AT&T iPhone Tethering Plan Specifics, No Unlimited Plan? — AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph De La Vega has recently announced the arrival of an official iPhone tethering plan. While we already knew the plan was in development prior to his announcement, little information pertaining to specific tethering offerings has been revealed.

Best Buy's Gift Card is a Tiny Audio Speaker — Who is the consultant that told all of the big boxers that it would be a good idea to turn this year's holiday gift cards into some sort of tangible object? They are raking it in right now. First Target made this year's gift cards into digital cameras …

Amazon to Sell OLPC's XO Laptop Starting Nov. 17 — One Laptop Per Child confirmed it will start selling the XO laptop through Amazon.com on Monday. — The XO laptop will be sold through Amazon in the same way as the G1G1 program, where a consumer donates US$400 for two laptops …

Loopt Jumps Ahead Of Facebook And MySpace On iPhone. Told You. — Facebook and MySpace have great mobile apps. At least, they're great if you're satisfied with a subset of the features you get on their normal websites. But they don't yet take advantage of location/presence features on the iPhone and other platforms.

Cisco details tech plans for new Yankee Stadium — A picture of the new Yankee stadium in the Bronx set to open in April 2009. — NEW YORK - Cisco is teaming up with the New York Yankees to offer baseball fans an interactive experience at the ballpark and eventually bring that experience to their living rooms.

Philips develops “intelligent pill” — AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch group Philips has developed an “intelligent pill” that contains a microprocessor, battery, wireless radio, pump and a drug reservoir to release medication in a specific area in the body. — Philips, one of the world's …

Consumers Aren't Shopping Online, Either — It is not only retail stores that are feeling the pinch as shoppers close their wallets just ahead of the holiday season. E-commerce sales, though still growing faster than retail, are hurting, too. — E-commerce spending growth slowed …

Never get Rick-Rolled again! — The most annoying thing about online video is that you don't always get what you want. Too often, you're led astray by misleading thumbnails and mischievous Rick-Rollers. — To help with this problem, we use advanced algorithms to intelligently identify …

iPhone 2.2 Release Just 10 Days Away — According to the consistently reliable iPhone Hellas, the iPhone OS 2.2 update will appear even sooner than we all expected. Barring any sudden plan changes, the iPhone Hellas people are saying the upgrade will be available on November 21.

Energy industry at risk of cyberattack, survey says — Asked which industry is the biggest target for cyberattack, critical infrastructure insiders in the U.S., Canada, and Europe point to the energy sector. — The energy industry also is the most vulnerable to cyberattacks …

Who Did Nortel Cut? — It was no surprise that Nortel, reporting a $3.41 billion loss, said it would keep slashing jobs, this time on the order of 1,300. More unusual are some of the names on the list: four executives who CEO Mike Zafirovski recently recruited from IBM, Broadcom and EMC in an effort to turn the company around.

Trippin' With Trip: One Man's View Of Carnage To Come — Every month, Trip Chowdhry, the one-man band who covers all things tech under the moniker Global Equities Research, writes a piece he calls Silicon Scoop on current trends and gossip from the Valley. It's always a good read …

iTunes Store finally gets a bargain bin for movies — The glory days of grabbing that $5 DVD at the road trip pit-stop or Target checkout counter have finally made their digital transition to the iTunes Store. — With a new section unfortunately called “This Week's Great Movies Under $5” …

DeepDyve: Indexing the Deep Web — DeepDyve is a new search engine that is aimed at students, academics, and knowledge workers. DeepDyve's mission is to index the ‘deep web’ that is hidden behind pay walls and subscription fees. We first looked at DeepDyve in September …

The Next Windows: 7Up or New Vista? — Running away as fast as it can from Vista , Microsoft rolled out an alpha version of Windows 7 at its recent Professional Developers Conference . But is Windows 7 going to be 7Up, the Un-Vista, or is it going to be (gag) New Vista ?

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